“Transfer Rumors: Lionel Messi to Join Al-Hilal Club in Saudi Arabia for Staggering 363 Million Euros”

In Saudi Arabia, and no doubt elsewhere, some dreamed of this reunion between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, after having seen them compete so often in the Spanish La Liga when they respectively wore the jerseys of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. To date, half of the objective has been achieved since the Portuguese joined Al-Nassr Riyadh last January for two and a half years and an annual salary of 100 million euros, excluding bonuses and small benefits.

It would seem that, this Tuesday, May 9, the other half of the deal is complete: according to an anonymous source interviewed by AFP, the transfer of the Argentine world champion to the rich Gulf kingdom is “a done deal”. “He will play in Saudi Arabia”, continues the informant who also assures: “The contract is exceptional. He is huge. We are still finalizing some details. »

Contract with Visit Saudi

If the name of the club under the colors of which Messi will evolve next season is not specified by the source of the press agency, the mystery is quite thin. Everyone in the business knows that Al-Hilal, a Jeddah club considered one of Al-Nassr’s main rivals, has set out to attract the South American for a single season. But not at any price: the 2022 world champion would receive the staggering sum of 363 million. ” THE negotiations did not take as long as with Ronaldo,” said the Saudi source, adding that, as with the latter, the financial package would come from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The sensational contract of the Portuguese striker in Saudi Arabia estimated at 400 million euros until June 2025, made him the highest paid sportsman in the world in 2023, according to the annual ranking of Forbes.

On June 30, Messi will be officially free since Paris-SG, where he earns 35 million euros per year, has not offered him a contract extension. The move came amid strained relations between the Argentine and his club. The latter sanctioned him sportingly and financially – a two-week suspension, without training, matches and salary – after his decision to fly to Riyadh with his wife and two sons on May 1 and without the authorization of its leaders, in order to honor a commitment with Visit Saudi, the Saudi tourist office which pays it several million euros a year.

Wonderful offer

Messi “is a player at the end of his career and he won’t be here just for football. He will be there to contribute to the attractiveness of the kingdom”, confirms the Saudi source to AFP, stressing the country’s ambition to attract other “big players” as well as young people “in the future. promising”.

The Argentinian striker finally resumed training on May 8, but the decision not to keep him in the Paris squad was irrevocable anyway. It remained to be seen where the star striker, who will be 36 on June 24, would land. FC Barcelona, ​​his favorite club, was ready to welcome him, but Catalan finances are no longer what they used to be and the operation seemed complicated to carry out. Another track mentioned: Inter Miami (United States), which counts among its owners the former midfielder of England and Paris-SG, David Beckham. The ex-Spice Boy has close ties with Qatar, of which he was one of the ambassadors for the last World Cup, and with which he negotiated a sponsorship contract of nearly 207 million euros in 2020.

Even before today’s (unofficial) announcement, however, we knew that the fabulous offer from the Saudis had enough to turn all heads, even those of a player whose fortune is estimated at around 650 million euros. Saudi Arabia doesn’t want to stop at Ronaldo and its sports minister recently confirmed that the country will help clubs attract global stars.

“Mohamed Ben Salman, the Prime Minister, understood that 65% of the population is under 30 years old and that they need leisure, including football, a sport very popular there, belongs, and if possible by attracting stars. Moreover, the Saudis want their league to become the best in Asia again. What Qatar does in terms of investments, they are able to do to the power of 10! » intervenes Jean-Baptiste Guégan, teacher and author of « The Geopolitical Atlas of Sport ».

The Qatari enemy brother

Failing to have been able to afford, like their Qatari neighbor, a major European club like Paris-SG, the Saudis are betting on the attractiveness of their championship and the opening, albeit slow, of the country, to improve its image. . Even if the diplomatic relations between the two enemy brothers have relaxed, the rivalry has never ceased to exist. Attracting Messi, a player under contract with a club belonging to the Qataris, is obviously a superb publicity stunt from the Saudis.

“It seems obvious to me that in Doha and Paris, we would prefer Messi to sign elsewhere than at Al-Hilal, continues Jean-Baptiste Guégan. In addition, we must not lose sight of the fact that the departure of Messi from PSG will have economic consequences. Admittedly, Paris will save the Argentinian’s salary but he will also lose money on the sale of derivative products and certain sponsors, who had signed partnerships with the club of the French capital after the recruitment of the prodigy in August 2021 , may not extend their commitment or revise them downwards. Conversely, Messi’s arrival in Jeddah should attract many advertisers willing to shell out big bucks to associate their image with that of the Argentine.

The Sun of Jeddah

To convince the striker, in addition to the financial proposal, Al-Hilal intends to offer three players with whom he is linked – the Italian Marco Verratti (PSG) and the Spaniards Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona) – to come inflate their bank account in the sun of Jeddah. Some claim that, if the living environment of Miami, where Messi has an apartment and which has the advantage of not being too far from Argentina, is a priori more attractive than that of Jeddah, the player was not insensitive to the idea of ​​going into exile in the Persian Gulf for a year and amassing a considerable sum of money.

“That would leave him the possibility of then joining Inter Miami to end his career there. Sportingly, the American championship is higher than that of Saudi Arabia but, even when your name is Messi, it is difficult to remain insensitive to such a financial proposal, ”insists a player agent on condition of anonymity. However, for now, neither Lionel Messi – under contract with PSG until the last match of the season, June 3 – nor the Saudi club confirm the signing. of CONTRACT.